Clamshell camper

ABSTRACT

A substantially boxlike housing is provided with a hingedly connected arched top having depending wall panels attached thereto for completing the enclosure when the top is raised for increasing the dwelling space.

United States Patent [111 3,627,374

[72] Inventor Eugene M. Richison [56] References Cited 21 A IN g g g UNITED STATES PATENTS f M3119 2,582,635 1/1952 Kipple", 296/23 2,071,489 2/1937 Alvord 296/23 [45] Patented Dec. 14,1971

[73] Assignee Thomas H. Conklin FOREIGN P TENTS Stigler, Okla. 1,033,260 4/1953 France 296/233 a pan interest Primary Examiner- Philip Goodman AtwmeyRobert K. Rhea [54] CLAMSHELL CAMPER 4 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 296/23,

246/27 ABSTRACT: A substantially boxlike housing is provided with [51] Int. Cl 860p 3/32 a hingedly connected arched top having depending wall panels [50] Field of Search 296/23, 26, attached thereto for completing the enclosure when the top is 27, 23.3 raised for increasing the dwelling space.

PATENTEUUEBMIBYI $627,374

SHEET 2 UF 3 EUGEN E. M. RICHLSON INVENTOR.

PATENTED DEC 1 4 I971 SHEET 3 [IF 3 1' 391 I I 1- I 70 f 72 m P FIG 7 I: 5 I I I: H @A J l i i :E t H 24 ii I I :l i EUGENE M. RICHISON nu INVENTO/E CLAMSHELL CAMPER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the invention The present invention relates to mobile Invention and more particularly to a shelter having a hinged top for increasing the dwelling space while in use.

It is desirable that mobile campers of the trailer type or pickup truck mounted type be as compact as practicable especially when the camper is on the road. Providing sleeping quarters, cooking and eating facilities as well as a work area within a camping shelter limits the compactness of lateral dimensions of such campers to a minimum even when these facilities are arranged in relatively close proximity, however, these facilities do not require the overall height usually provided in the dimensions of such a camper.

This invention features an adjustable top which is hingedly connected with the frame of the camper so that the top may be raised to provide head room while occupied and subsequently lowered to a compact configuration while traveling.

2. Description of the Prior Art U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,567,516; 2,920,919; 3,001,813; 3,078,117 and 3,429,609, respectively, disclose collapsible framework for increasing and decreasing the dwelling space of camping trailers while U.S. Pat. No. 2,582,635 discloses a camping trailer having a hingedly connected top to provide sleeping quarters.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A substantially boxlike housing is provided with an arched top hingedly connected at one side to the housing for lifting the opposite side of the top to increase head room within the housing. A screen and awning, hingedly connected to the free side of the top, forms a wall between the lifted side of the top and the upper limit of the housing. A-shaped panels, connected respectively with the ends of the top, form walls to complete the enclosure when the top is raised. Electrical motor and pump operated cylinders, mounted in the housing and connected with the hingedly connected side portion of the top, raise and lower the top and its connected enclosure panels. A door is formed in one end wall of the housing for ingress and egress.

The principal object is to provide a compact mobile camper having a clamshell-like top provided with depending panels to complete the enclosure when the top is in raised position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a rear end elevational view of the camper in closed position;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. I, illustrating the camper in top raised position;

FIG. 3 is a right side view of FIG. I with parts broken away for clarity;

FIG. 4 is a right side view of FIG. 2 with parts broken away for clarity;

FIG. 5 is a left side view of FIG. I with parts broken away for clarity;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of an alternative embodiment of the camper mounted on a fragmentary portion of a pickup truck; and,

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary rear end view of FIG. 6 in top closed position with parts broken away for clarity.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Like characters of reference designate like parts in those figures of the drawings in which they occur.

In the drawings:

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 1 through 5, the reference numeral 10 indicates the device, as a whole, which is rectangular trailerlike in general configuration comprising a housing 12 supported by a 2-wheel frame 14 having a forwardly projecting tongue and trailer hitch 16. The housing 12 includes opposing sidewalls l8 and 20 each having a wheel well 22 formed therein for nesting the trailer wheels. The sides are connected with a horizontal bottom 24 and joined with end walls 26 and 28. Theend walls 26 and 28 are each provided with an inner or false wall 26A and 28A, respectively, forming a relatively narrow vertical space at each end of the housing for slidably receiving and nesting rearward and forward A-shaped end panels 30 and 32, respectively.

A transversely arched top 34, defined by an arcuate roof 36 and end members 38 and 40, is hingedly connected at one Ion gitudinal side by a piano hinge 42 to the upper edge of the sidewall 18 for vertical movement of the other side of the top 34 toward and away from the sidewall 20. The A-shapecl end panels 30 and 32 are respectively connected to the top ends 38 and 40 with the apex of the A-shape adjacent the hinge 42 and vertically aligned so that they are nested by the space formed by the double walls 26-26A and 28-28A when the top is in closed position. Thus, when the top 34 is raised the opposite or depending side edge of each respective A-shaped panel 30 and 32 is substantially coincident with the upper limit of the end walls 26-26A and 28-28A.

A rectangular screen frame 44 is hingedly connected to the free side edge of the top 34 and extends between the top and upper limit of the side wall 28 when the top is in raised position (FIGS. 2 and 4). The screen frame 44 supports a section of wire screen 46, or the like, to provide ventilation when the top is raised. A rectangular panel 48, forming an awning, is hingedly connected to the upper limit of the screen frame 44 and is pivoted outward and upward, as shown more clearly in FIG. 2, by a pair of springs 50 as the top is lifted to raised position. The hingedly connected side edge of the awning 48 abuts the free edge of the top 34 to form a stop limiting the upward movement of the awning 48. When the top 34 is in the lowered or closed position the screen frame 44 and awning 48 are disposed in flat face to face contact with each other and the side wall 20 and are held in this position by brackets 52.

A door 54 is mounted in a door opening 56 formed in the rear end walls 26-26A. The rear end A-panel 30 is provided with a cooperatingly disposed door glass receiving opening 58 for receiving a door glass 60 slidably supported by the door 54 and manually lifted into position when the top 34 has been raised.

The top 34 is raised and lowered by a pair of hydraulic cylinders 62 operated by a pump P driven by a motor M. The cylinders 62 may be of the type conventionally used for raising and lowering automotive convertible tops. A switch S, mounted on the rear wall 26, connects a source of electrical energy to the motor M for operating the latter. One end of the cylinders 62 is mounted on the floor or bottom 24 and each piston rod 64 is connected with ears or brackets 66 secured to the top 34 adjacent the hinge 42 so that the free edge of the top is pivoted vertically when the cylinders 62 are operated for a raising or closing action of the top.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate an alternative embodiment of the trailer, indicated at 10A, which is preferably mounted on and transported by a pickup truck, or the like, indicated at 70. The camper 10A is substantially boxlike in configuration comprising a housing 12A having a top 34A arched from front to rear. This embodiment eliminates the floor 24 and the depending edge of the forward wall is supported by the wall forming the forward limit of the truck bed. In this embodiment the depending edge portion of the sidewalls 18A and 20A are each longitudinally indented forming horizontal shoulders 21 and 23, respectively, for cooperative reception of the truck bed walls 71 and the remaining upper portions of each sidewall is formed by double spaced-apart panels for similarly receiving A-shaped side panels, only one being shown at 30A, which are similarly connected with the respective longitudinal side of the top 34A and are respectively slidably received by the spaces formed by the sidewalls 18A and 20A.

One end of the top 34A is hingedly connected to the upper limit of the forward end 28A of the housing for raising and lowering the top by means of a pair of cylinders 62 similarly connected therewith and supported, at their respective depending end by the shoulders 21 and 23. The rear end gate, not shown, of the pickup is preferably removed so that the depending edge of the rear wall 26A is supported by the pickup bed and closes the rear end of the housing. The rear end wall 26A is similarly provided with a substantially coextensive door 54A. The rearward end portion of the top 34A similarly has a screen frame 44A and an awning 48A connected therewith which, when not in use and the top is closed, overhang the rear wall 26A as shown by dotted lines (FIG. 6) and solid lines (FIG. 7). Windows 72 may be formed in the A-shaped side panels if desired.

The interior of each of the campers l and 10A is arranged as desired preferably to include sleeping beds or bunks, cooking facilities such as a stove, refrigerator, sink and cabinets. The accommodations installed within the camper preferably does not extend above the limit of the several walls in order to not interfere with the operation of its raising and lowering action.

Obviously the invention is susceptible to changes or alterations without defeating its practicability, therefore, I do not wish to be confined to the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings and described herein.

I claim:

1. A clamshell camper, comprising:

a rectangular housing having spaced-apart double walls,

forming at least two of its side walls, terminating upwardly in a common plane;

an arched hoodlike top overlying the several walls;

hinge means connecting one side of said top with one wall of said camper for vertical movement of the other side of said top about a horizontal axis;

power means for raising and lowering said top;

panel means connected with said top and completing the enclosure when said top is raised, said panel means including A-shaped panels connected with the respective ends of said top and slidably received within the space formed by the respective double walls; and,

a screen frame having screen material extending thereacross hingedly connected at one side, in depending relation, to the side edge of said top opposite said hinge means, the depending edge surface of said screen frame contracting the upper edge surface of one said sidewall in top supporting relation.

2. Structure as specified in claim 1 in which said panel means further includes:

a rectangular awning panel hingedly connected with the upper limit of said screen frame for pivoting movement about a horizontal axis; and,

spring means connected with said top and normally lifting said awning toward a laterally inclined position.

3. Structure as specified in claim 2 and further including:

power-operated cylinder means supported by said housing and connected with said top for raising and lowering the latter.

4. Structure as specified in claim 3 in which one said housing wall is provided with a door and in which one said A- shaped panel is provided with an opening cooperatingly aligned with said door when said top is raised.

Ill t i i l 

1. A clamshell camper, comprising: a rectangular housing having spaced-apart double walls, forming at least two of its side walls, terminating upwardly in a common plane; an arched hoodlike top overlying the several walls; hinge means connecting one side of said top with one wall of said camper for vertical movement of the other side of said top about a horizontal axis; power means for raising and lowering said top; panel means connected with said top and completing the enclosure when said top is raised, said panel means including A-shaped panels connected with the respective ends of said top and slidably received within the space formed by the respective double walls; and, a screen frame having screen material extending thereacross hingedly connected at one side, in depending relation, to the side edge of said top opposite said hinge means, the depending edge surface of said screen frame contacting the upper edge surface of one said sidewall in top supporting relation.
 2. Structure as specified in claim 1 in which said panel means further includes: a rectangular awning panel hingedly connected with the upper limit of said screen frame for pivoting movement about a horizontal axis; and, spring means connected with said top and normally lifting said awning toward a laterally inclined position.
 3. Structure as specified in claim 2 and further including: power-operated cylinder means supported by said housing and connected with said top for raising and lowering the latter.
 4. Structure as specified in claim 3 in which one said housing wall is provided with a door and in which one said A-shaped panel is provided with an opening cooperatingly aligned with said door when said top is raised. 